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Review: Pick Me Up // Relax In The City

While we wait for the World Tour 3rd DVD to finally be released, Yasutaka Nakata has given us another Perfume single. Of course being the Perfume fan that I’ve now become, I had to do a quick review of it.

Pick Me Up

This is the lead song on the single, and it’s definitely worthy of that title. The guitar at the beginning of the song threw me off a little the first time I listened, but then things got electric. The build up highlights something that sounds new for Perfume: something less robotic with a little vocal vibrato.

Once hitting the chorus, I immediately heard the similarity to the chorus of ‘Unrequited Love’ off of Capsule’s latest album release, ‘Wave Runner.’ But if you didn’t already know, Nakata produces both acts, so it’s not surprising. As a whole, this is definitely a song that will become a Perfume staple.

Now let’s talk about the music video. Once it started I had flashbacks to ‘Natural ni Koishite.’ Loved the OK Go cameo. Then they’re starting to hover, and whoosh.

Everything about this music video is amazing and sets an even higher standard for Perfume music videos. The direction, concept, motion graphics, everything. The choreography alone is something that needs to be appreciated separately in its own right. If you watch their Music Japan performance (below), you’ll literally see what I mean.

One last note, Tristan and I swear the lyrics were “Jump on me” before learning it was actually “Jump lightly.”

Relax in the City

Another overtly pleasant song by Perfume, which is even more wispy and adorable than ‘Hold Your Hand.’ I know the fandom would rather take the club bangers of ‘Party Maker’ and ‘Fake It’ than this type of song (poor ‘Mirai no Museum’), but I personally enjoy all Perfume songs. ‘Relax in the City,’ however, is a song that I have on my playlist now, but it probably won’t make it to the next.

And can we talk about how in the music video there is no city? The cube-room thing is cool, but I’m pretty sure that’s a beach.

Toumei Ningen (透明人間)

Here’s the third song that doesn’t get listed in the single’s title, but in my opinion, deserves to be. This last week, this has been my jam. Seriously, it’s the first song on my commuting playlist. It’s just as danceable as ‘Pick Me Up.’

I wish there would be a music video for this, but there won’t. Just like how my dreams of a ‘Hurly Burly’ music video probably won’t ever come true.

So that’s my review. A Tumblr post pointed out something noteworthy: if the next Perfume album is going to have Cling Cling, Pick Me Up, and STORY in it, the fandom will be probably explode. On Tumblr.